My thanks and discoveries credits go to: DimaGromyko, TurboBeholder, PawelS, Griffith
Relevant threads in Heaven games Forums:
Abilities Hex Edit: Healing II, and so on
Ability. Maskabilities list effect
You need a Hex Editor program. I used XVI32, a freeware Hex Editor:
You need PawelS Unit Editor program
Open the UNITRES.PFS file on the hex editor.
A) Search for the line 35 00 11-01 03 14 00-15 04 29 05 04 01 00 00 01 00 00. (You can copy/paste it from here – you may have to remove the dashes ‘-´though).
Those last 4 zeroes are the number of the target Unit for Morph. The default is the halberdier, numbered 0 in the editor.
B) To change the target Unit to the Unit you want, you need to know the number of the Unit Slot in the editor, 'Units' tab - the number in hexadecimal, not decimal!
You can go here http://www.willamette.edu/~gorr/classes/cs130/lectures/BinaryConversion/con
C) After the hex editing is done, SAVE the file and close the hex editor.
IMPORTANT: there is a rule for 3 or 4 digits hexadecimal numbers. I’ll show it with an example.
Say you want to Morph a Unit into a Unit that is in Slot 729: in hexadecimal it will be 2d9. Now, if you type this in the hex editor, it won’t work. With 4 digits, you need to do this:
2d9 ->
So what was done is, ‘cut’ it after the first digit and enter the last 2 digits first, then the first digit AFTER a 0.
TIP: In the XVI32 program, you can press F3 to go to next Morph string in the unitRes.PFS AFTER you typed in the string in 'search' and used it once.
TIP: - To actually KNOW which Unit you are editing, I recommend adding something to the Unit Description.
Example: A Red Dragon that has in description: Gold: Morph (Elder Red Dragon); you will be able to see this in plain text on the right column in the XVI32 hex editor program. If you can't see the text, try scrolling up
and down using the right bar, since using the mouse the scrolling is too fast; the Morph string and such text won't be always perfectly aligned, but you will get the hang of it.
There are CRC recalculators, but letting PawelS program do it is the easiest way! Open the UNITRES.PFS file under PawelS Unit Editor program and simply SAVE the file there - you don't need to any modifications, and the CRC will be recalculated.
Now, launch the AoW SM Editor and edit the game as a Mod, since you need an Ability to MASK Changeling; or the target Morph will change to that of the last humanoid killed in melee combat.
In theory you can use any Ability to do this; it can be a matter of choice. I took Shadow Walker for example. Why? Because say, Shadow Walking can be grant by a spell; so an eventual unit that does use Changeling would not be able to anymore if the spell was cast on it. And I thought that Units that change form have some powerful magical/supernatural ability, so that could give them immunity to shadow sickness. But even something like Steppe Concealment can Mask Changeling, in theory.
Always add the ability that WILL MASK another to the MaskAbilities field in the ability TO BE Masked.
Example: Go to Changeling in the editor. Click on MaskAbilities field: Select Shadow Walker from list.
Limitations:
* Units with Changeling unmasked, when dying, leave a Changeling Unit Corpse! So you need to have it masked even in the form to be morphed into!
Example: A Eagle that grows into a Giant eagle. It’s not only the Eagle that needs an ability that masks Changeling, say Shadow Walker; the Giant Eagle needs it too.
* Units retains XP. Note Xp, and not medals. A Unit may revert from Gold Medal to Silver medal or no medal, depending on the level of the Unit it Morphed into. Say, a level 1 Gold Medal Unit Morphing into a level 3 Unit would have a Silver Medal; and if Morphing into a level 4 Unit it would not even have a Silver medal anymore. Higher levels can be set with PawelS Unit Editor. See table below:
Unit Level/Xp Needed Silver/Xp Needed Gold/Upkeep
1 / 10 / 30 / 6
2 / 20 / 60 / 9
3 / 30 / 90 / 12
4 / 40 / 120 / 15
5 / 50 / 150 / 18
6 / 60 / 180 / 21
7 / 70 / 210 / 24
8 / 80 / 240 / 27
9 / 90 / 270 / 30
10 / 100 / 300 / 33
11 / 110 / 330 / 36
12 / 120 / 360 / 39
(NOTE: Survivalist DOES apply to the higher upkeeps and its even more effective because of its formula: Upkeep is X - Unit level)
- The target Morph Unit can’t be changed with medals; only one target unit for Morph can be used for each Unit.
- When morphing from medaled form to another medaled form you won’t receive the medal bonus abilities (but will get the HP, ATT, DEF increase for Silver or HP, DAM, RES for Gold).
- The new form that the Unit Morphed into has maximum HP and MP. So if unit can switch back and forth with forms instead of needing a medal, some penalty after morphing may be necessary to avoid endless Morphing. Paralyzed (0 Rounds) is a good idea to prevent this.
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www.the-battlefield.com ex-member with fond memories:Battlefield Player of the year 2003;Battlefield Winner of 4 Tourneys;Battlefield Winner of AoW league 2004
Proud owner of an AoW SM poster signed by Devs!
Please try the fantastic BNW Mod made by my friend Kirky Picardo! The best AoW:SM Mod!
[This message has been edited by Merkraad (edited 01-21-2008 @ 11:35 AM).]